Chapter Text
Truth be told, Bruno had always thought of running away from the village, from Casita and the Madrigal family. He always thought of leaving all expectations and pressures from the villagers and his mama. Perhaps if he wasn’t so glued to Casita because of his little hijas, maybe he would’ve been somewhere outside the borders. But, Bruno digresses. After all, what would he even do out there? Surely he would die the moment he stepped foot onto the mountains.
“Papi, tell us a story.” Cecilia demands as she clutches a sewn rat doll between her hands.
“Yeah, tell us one!” Mirabel pushes on.
Bruno smiles at his hijas, “Alright, what story would you two like?”
“Ratatouille!” Mirabel suggests.
“No, not that one.” Cecilia pulls a face.
“Why not, it’s funny!” Mirabel pouts, crossing her arms.
“Well I don’t like it.” Cecilia huffs.
“How about Rapunzel? Would that suffice?” Bruno suggests, seeing his queridas’ faces light up with joy.
“Si! Si!” The two exclaim happily.
Bruno smiled and began to tell the tale of a beautiful young girl with long golden hair.
As quickly as the night came and went, his kids were fast asleep, snoring softly as they laid on Cecilia's bed. Smiling fondly to himself, Bruno picked up Mirabel gently, laying her head on his shoulder. She almost jolts to a wake before murmuring something and falling right back asleep.
Bidding a goodnight to Cecilia who murmurs something, slurring between a ‘Goodnight’ and a ‘I love you’. He leaves her room, making sure to switch the lights off and watch the torches set a dim lighting.
Bruno keeps a calm pace as he walks the halls of Casita, Mirabel peaceful and asleep in his arms. These were the moments he really appreciated.
A simple normal he could repeat and never get bored of. A simple normal that made him forget everything, that made him feel normal, as though he wasn’t a Madrigal and he didn’t have a gift. He was himself and he had his daughters.
The door to the nursery swings open as Casita lets them in. Then quietly, he leans down and places Mirabel gently onto the bed. For a moment, Mirabel protests, not wanting to leave her Papi’s embrace, but soon succumbs to the bed’s warmth and sighs relaxed.
His heart ached for her, but he just quickly tucked her in and uttered her a good night before he left.
The trip to his room was fairly short and he could not express his relief when he heard the sound of falling sand. Calm and in sync.
Bruno can’t help but slide down his door once he’s inside, feeling much too tired to even properly get up until he’s regained energy. So he sits there, eyes closed as he listens to the sand. He’s careful to not accidentally fall asleep or else he’s gonna deal with a panicking Pepa and thunder and rain isn’t exactly what he wants to wake up to.
It’s a calm pattern and it breaks Bruno away from all his stress and all his worries, his chest feeling light and elevated.
He almost jolts himself awake, slipping off the door when he stops himself. Welp, that meant it was time for Bruno to get to bed.
His legs shake and his knees wobble, tired and exhausted from the day’s events. He deserved a good rest for once, flopping onto the bed once he does and slowly, he falls asleep, dreaming of a world where he is away from everything…
Cecilia likes to wake up early. It felt as though she was the only person here while the world slumbered around her. She often wondered if there was another world where she was the only inhabitant? Cecilia stores that thought away.
So, that morning, she hopped out of bed and quickly changed clothes.
She tugged her button up shirt over her head and wrestled her green dress before patting it down. Then, she slipped on her shoes and gently opened her bedroom door.
No one was awake, so the only sounds that greeted her were those of the birds that flew and of the wind that rustled leaves and plants. Cecilia stepped out of her room and gently shut the door.
She lifted her skirt just below her knees before tip-toeing all the way to the nursery where Mirabel slept. After the ceremony, Mirabel had been permanently confined to the nursery, making it her own room. Cecilia didn’t like that, she should’ve attempted to convince Abuela to have Mirabel sleep in her room. But, it’s not like Abuela would listen to her, anyways.
“Mira?” Cecilia whispers as she steps into the room. Although her intention was to wake Mirabel up so they could go hang out in Papi’s room before breakfast, she didn’t want to disturb Mirabel just yet.
Mirabel hummed and the blankets shifted as she twisted and turned. Too late, she was already waking up.
“Hey, are you awake?” She quietly asks, kneeling beside the bed.
Mirabel sat up, her sleepy eyes and jaw-slacked mouth somehow managing to move so it looked like Mirabel was both glaring and giving Cecilia a ‘Are you serious?’ look.
Cecilia smiles, nonetheless, “Glad to see you awake, hermana!”
“I was having such a nice dream, Ceci!” Mirabel complains quietly, her head lolling from side to side, “I was finally about to ride a giraffe…”
Cecilia couldn’t help but smirk teasingly, “You were dreaming about riding a giraffe?”
“I would’ve if you hadn’t woken me up.” Mirabel pouts.
“Mhm, sure, anyways, do you wanna get changed in Papi’s room or do you wanna get changed now?”
Mirabel seems more awake at the mention of their father, “I’ll just change here.”
As Mirabel fumbled blindly for her glasses, Cecilia threw open her closet and rummaged through to find her green skirt and her white button up shirt. While Cecilia grabbed the clothing items, she noticed the messy stack of fabric with what looked like embroidery on them.
“Hermana, have you been trying embroidery?” She asks, taking one off the pile and inspecting it. It was a flower, with purple petals and pink stem. Though it looked like a beginners attempt, Cecilia couldn’t help but admire how pretty it looked.
Mirabel rubbed her eyes before slipping on her glasses, “What…?”
She sat up straight when she saw Cecilia looking at one of her practice sheets.
“Don’t touch those!” Mirabel rushed forward and grabbed the fabric out of Cecilia’s hands. Then she tossed it back into the closet and slammed it shut with her body.
Cecilia blinked in surprise, “Wow, that was quite a reaction.”
Mirabel blushed before she angrily pouted, “Stop touching my stuff without permission! I’ll tell Papi!”
Cecilia smiles playfully, “Alright, alright, no need to snitch on me, hermana.”
She then raises an eyebrow, “Unless you want me to tell Papi you’ve been secretly eating candy during the night?”
Mirabel clamps her mouth, but still glares at her sister. Cecilia laughs and ruffles Mirabel’s hair before giving her her clothes.
“Here, should be a fairly simple outfit for today.” Cecilia comments.
Mirabel hums, “Yeah, you have shit taste in clothing.”
Cecilia’s eyes widened and she looked at Mirabel, “Where did you learn that word?!”
Mirabel blinks, “From you. And I heard Tia Pepa say it.”
Cecilia blinks in return, “Don’t tell Papi.”
“I don’t plan to.”
“Good.”